Knowing Your Litter
Pastor Fred and Mary Lou Gonzalez and grandkids
“Gathering thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings” -- Luke 13:34
By Pastor Fred Gonzalez
In November Lady, our German Shepherd, gave birth to nine puppies. At birth, and for several weeks following, they all looked the same.
Immediately after birth we put different colored collars on each one in order to tell them apart.
In the ensuing weeks we began to notice how different they were from each other. Even though they were all the same breed, had the same parents, and were born into the same litter, each was different.
Each had their own markings, and they had their own personality.
First you have your runt; then you have the daring one, the hyper one, the playful one; and each litter always has the one that wants to dominate everyone else (call him the Alpha whatever).
Christmas is a special time for us – a time when all our family comes together. Over the river and thru the woods, to the grandparent's house we go – all seventeen of us under the same roof. Two grandparents, six parents, and nine grandchildren.
Yes, there is never a dull moment; no, we don’t take naps.
As each one of our grandchildren is busy being who they are, and doing what they do, Mary Lou and I find ourselves studying them as they play.
No, we don’t put different colored collars on them – although we wish we could put a leash on some of them. We are amazed at how different; how unique each one is.
While cleaning house after they all leave we find some of their hidden treasures (candy) under the couch cushions, and behind cabinets. We also find their secrets (broken things), as well as the forgotten things they have left behind.
Outside we find certain things that remain untouched, as the memorials of things they have done.
Like the kite stuck on the old mesquite, and the piles of rocks they collected, convinced that it was gold.
The baseball they used when they got on the tricycle, tied a rope to Lady’s collar, threw the ball, and had a wild ride as Lady ran after the ball!
As silly as this might sound, the reason we leave these things as we find them – some for weeks, some for months – is because Mary Lou and I will look out the window as we sit down and drink coffee, or as we spend time outside, and we see these things and remember the special time we had with our grandchildren.
Each of these is a memento of precious times spent together as a family.
Families are to be enjoyed; times spent together are to be cherished. Whether we are parents or grandparents, we need to look for and create “teaching moments,” where we can impart into our children and grandchildren what we have learned about Jesus; the things God has brought us through, and what He has delivered us from.
In other words, we need to tell them our testimony.
On Christmas Eve, Grandpa and the fathers took turns reading the Christmas story. If the children started playing, or not paying attention, I would tell them that we wouldn’t open our presents until the 25th!
Because as everyone knows, the right time to open gifts is on Christmas Eve.
We asked them questions as we read the Christmas Story, and told them that Jesus was the reason why we celebrate Christmas. It’s these little things that God uses to powerfully impact our children with the Gospel.
Even though we have one of the best children’s church ministries in the country, it is much more powerful when parents impart these things in a family setting than it is for them to hear the same stories and teachings in Sunday school.
Why? Because it is Dad or Mom who is teaching them.
Let me tell you about a powerful law in relationship. Mary Lou and I call it “The Law of Always.” We have discovered that the power of things done together with our children goes a long way.
In pastoring, you have the opportunity of preaching revivals in other churches. I have taken both my sons at different times with me as I have preached revivals.
I would say that each one has gone with me three or four times in their lifetime. I’ve heard each one boast to their friends, “I always go with my dad when he preaches revivals!”
Mary Lou has taken each one of my daughters to lunch at separate times. They will say, “My mom always takes me out to lunch!”
What The Law of Always is trying to teach us is that a little goes a long way! This is the power of influence we have in our relationship with our children.
Let it be said of us by our children, “My mom and dad always read to us stories out of the Bible! My mom and dad always spend time with us! They always play with us!” Remember, a little goes a long way!
Scripture is rich with stories, parables, and events that we can use to teach our children at any age.
Psalm 78: 1-7 says, “I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide [them] from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments”
What God is telling us in this portion of scripture is that the generations to come are our responsibility.
What we possess has been delivered to us at great sacrifice and cost by those that have borne the burden for our souls. God has called us to pick up this same burden, and impart the knowledge of God into our children, that they might in turn do the same, so that the generations to come will be secure in the will of God.
So that, “they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments”